Antimicrobial efficacy of AvGard® carcase wash under industrial processing conditions

1. The efficacy of the AvGard(R) Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) immersion carcase wash process was evaluated during 5 industrial trials against Salmonella, Enterobacteriaceae, thermotolerant coliforms and total aerobic count. The effect against Pseudomonas was also studied in the first 3 trials. 2. Dramatic reductions in Salmonella incidence were seen using a whole carcase rinse method. In 4 of the 5 trial sites, only one positive sample was found after AvGard(R) treatment (average 0.5% incidence), in spite of an average control incidence of 57.7%. In the 5th site, a water-chilled broiler plant, an average control incidence of 74.0% was reduced to 9.4% after AvGard(R) treatment. 3. In the latter case, Most Probable Number (MPN) analyses were performed on some of the Salmonella positive samples taken from the control and post-treatment series; the average MPN count per carcase on controls was 115, whereas for AvGard(R) treated birds the figure was only 0.6 per carcase, a greater than 2 log reduction. 4. In addition, AvGard(R) treatment gave average log reductions for all trials of: Enterobacteriaceae; 2.5 log; Coliforms; 2.7 log, and Total Aerobic Count; 1.1 log, leading to carcases substantially free of Gram negative pathogens. 5. Pseudomonas was reduced by an average of 1.7 log in the first 3 trials, dramatically reducing the carcase loading of this important spoilage organism.